A&H

Refereeing in France

L Hart

New Member
Level 7 Referee
Hi,

If I was to visit a foreign country (e.g. France) for a weekend, would it be possible to get a fixture whilst I was out there? If so, does anyone know the process?

I was thinking about visiting various (hopefully every) city in France for a weekend and refereeing a game whilst I was out there (and writing about it).
 
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You know how big France is right?? I am not sure what you are proposing is even possible, let alone taking a couple of hours out to referee a game.
 
Hi,
I think it would be very difficult.
First of all - how is your French?
Secondly - every match in ALL of France now has a full match report only available on a tablet which you will have to be trained in the use of before you can referee any match.
Thirdly - You will need a letter from the FA introducing you to the local Country or Region FA, informing them of your status and level of refereeing.
That is just for starters.
You will not be able to just arrive a day before and try to get a match.
Let me know if you want any more information.
 
Hi,
I think it would be very difficult.
First of all - how is your French?
Secondly - every match in ALL of France now has a full match report only available on a tablet which you will have to be trained in the use of before you can referee any match.
Thirdly - You will need a letter from the FA introducing you to the local Country or Region FA, informing them of your status and level of refereeing.
That is just for starters.
You will not be able to just arrive a day before and try to get a match.
Let me know if you want any more information.
Wow. Does that mean every referee gets a free tablet?
My French is OK - I've been learning for about 4 years, and hoping to get better by going to France and using it in real conversations, situations etc.

I wasn't planning to pick up a game when I arrive, it'd take a lot more planning than that!
 
Unfortunately referees do not get the tablet. Each club gets at least one (bigger clubs get a few) tablet(s), and it is the home team's responsibility to ensure the tablet is updated before each match, brought to the ground, and then uploaded/updated after the match. The tablet is given to the referee on his arrival, he checks the teams, all players photos are on the tablet and then fill in all the necessary information after the match. The referee then returns the tablet to the home team when he leaves.
 
I like it - seems like an awesome system. If anything, I want to do a game just to see the tablet in action!
 
Up the frozen North the higher levels also have great online tools. At e.g. elite youth games one of the home team crew fills in all the match details via iPad and then we have a quick check with the ref/AR afterwards to make sure all the subs, times, codes etc. are correct. Then just ref name/password to authenticate and approve.

I know at least one of our referees did some games in the UK last year after an intro from our ref sec.

If anyone is gonna spend some quality time in Helsinki I can hook you up (we also have great youth tournaments here in the summer... StadiCup, Helsinki Cup...)
 
I've had enough problems with players that struggle to converse coherently in English! How would travelling to my Mothers homeland help with a refereeing career??? (especially with my pigeon Francais!!!)
 
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